This invention relates to a device for the application of a thixotropic product with the aid of a brush. The invention relates in particular to a make-up assembly adapted in particular for making up the eyelashes by means of an eyelash booster product, still referred to as mascara. Also in the field of cosmetics, a thixotropic dye can be applied to the hair with the aid of a device of the same type.
A conventional mascara applicator comprises a mascara container and a movable cap which is adapted to close the container and forms a handle for the manipulation of a brush carried by the end of a rod integral with the cap. In the closed position of the container, the rod and the brush associated therewith are dipped into the container. When the rod is removed from the container, a certain quantity of mascara is taken up on the brush and can then be applied to the eyelashes. The brush generally penetrates into the interior of the container through an orifice of circular section which is formed in a wiper means disposed at the entrance to the container. The edge of the said orifice forms a wiper lip, the function of which is to exercise a wiping action on the bristles of the brush in order to remove the excess make-up product taken up by the brush from the interior of the container. The diameter of this orifice is less than the minimum diameter of the brush measured at the tip of the bristles, so that the edge of the said orifice can exercise its wiping action on the brush when the latter is removed from the container.
The brushes generally provided on these make-up assemblies often comprise relatively long bristles wound around a core formed by a twisted metal wire. The make-up product contained in the container is generally in the form of a thick or even pasty liquid. This results in irregular distribution of the make-up product taken up on the brush when it is removed from the mascara container, the product not being sufficiently fluid to cover the bristles of the brush in a regular manner. Although the make-up product is in fact thixotropic, the simple displacement of the bristles of the brush into the product when the brush is removed is not sufficient to reduce the viscosity of the said product to a significant extent. This irregular distribution of the product over the brush results in poor distribution of the product over the eyelashes, the mascara in practice being placed in pockets with no homogeneity, making it difficult and time-consuming to obtain a suitable uniform coating of mascara over the eyelashes.